The Raising Of Kingly Priests.
Reading:
Job 1:
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that
Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning and offered
burnt offerings according to the number of them all, for Job said, it may be
that my sons have cursed God in their
hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Revelation 1:
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father…
Recapping
We
continue with Job’s 5th verse of chapter 1: Job as a priest.
The Holy Spirit
arrests and have us know one or two
things about priesthood and priestly characters as well as the ultimate
fore-plan of God to raise priestly kings. The Spirit points out to us that those
high priestly garments are not for mere external beauty but they represent the holy and
beautiful characters of God. We have been looking into the 12 precious stones - that represent the names of the 12 tribes of Israel-
of the breastplate. The sixth stone is diamond and represents Naphthali. We
return to our texts: Genesis 30 and Exodus 28
Naphthali: The Diamond Character.
Diamond
represents Naphthali.
Bilhah, Rachel’s maid gave birth to her second son. Rachel with a vengeful
ululation, intoned: With great wrestling
have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name
Naphthali. In a footnote, the bible puts it this way, With the wrestlings of God have I… Naphthali means wrestling.(Genesis
30: 8).
Exodus 28: 18: And the second row
shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and
diamond
The Wrestlings of God
Naphthali
as diamond signifies the wrestings of God. God has been fighting to take hold
of His beloved possession from the foundation of the world. The greatest love
of God is man expressed in the Son of
His love or as the KJV puts it, His
beloved Son; this honour does not belong to angels or any other creatures.
God dots on man, this man created in His own image, for His own glory – this man
who later falls and comes short of Divine intention. The cause of this fall is that
man gives himself to a false lover who has deceived him into believing that there
is a shortcut to attaining Eternal life, God’s glory through the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil, without all the needed God-built-in pressure of
Divine processing which needs absolute reliance on and surrender to God’s wisdom and
guidance.
In His creation
of man, God gives it a unique attention and meticulous planning. He sets up
the celestial bodies to help keep the earth in orbit so as to give time, season,
night and day. This divine architecture is so perfect that the Sons of God shout for joy. Then, He puts man on earth, the
perfect earth, to come to the stature of His
Son of love in whom all Divine plans are concluded. This is to the effect
that His Son, in all things, may have
the preeminence. But man, being deceived, has another thought as he gives himself to
another lover. This ignites the battle of the ages as God steps into the fray
for He is a warrior, an invincible one, whose word cannot return to Him empty.
He has been involved with the enemy of His plan and thought since the fall of
His so-much-loved man. He will not accept defeat and cannot be defeated; He is
tied up by His Divine nature, His just judgment and His unwillingness to take
advantage of the enemy. Yet, He has beaten the enemy hands down with many wrestlings.
Naphthali
is diamond and means wrestlings of the Lord. I am my beloved’s and my
beloved is mine…. And the
response is, …., and his desire is
toward me.(Songs 6:3 and 7: 10). The Lord’s fighting for His love over the ages
is reflected in His relationship with Israel. Now, He would fight for them
against their enemies; now He would give them over to the enemies till they
learned their lessons and again, He would come to their rescue when they cried
to Him. The idea was to process them to His perfect kingly priests; they were
kingdom of priests about to be formed. In essence then, diamond indicates the
priestly character that has come to a perfect formation, the character into whom
the Lord has succeeded in working, even if through great pressure, much of
Christ’s character who is the epitome of God’s own perfection; the goal towards
which He now labours and judges and wars in righteousness – the goal of His
several wrestlings and engagements. This is diamond, the wrestlings of God.
We will
return to the wrestlings of God as it pertains to diamond-gem character again
so soon after we have examined the optical and structural properties of
diamond.
The Optical Nature of Diamond
Diamond is
Naphthatali. In its reflecting, refracting and dispersing powers, diamond produces -
when caught in the paths of lights - a most lovely beauty to the sight of the
beholder. Cubical in structure, each facet of diamond has a great measure of
perfect reflection; its reflection is without distortion. In its reflecting
power, it carries the reflected light with the same intensity as the incident
light on it. Even the plain mirror in its perfect reflection still has a degree
of distortion but not diamond. This speaks of the character, the kingly priest
of God who is now, in his reflecting God, has become the express image of His
person, the brightness of His glory; he is full of Christ; great measure of
Christ has been worked into him so much so that in deed and character, he
reflects the perfect image of the Object, the Christ.
The refractive index of diamond is very high;
it strongly bends light when it passes through it. This is of course the
prismatic Christ through which this character is now viewed. You see, in
optics, when an object is viewed through thick glass, its image is displaced.
The typing God is giving out in this is so clear: the displacement of our natural
self and the replacement of the same with the image of His Christ. And that is
what we are: the products of the substitutionary work of Christ Jesus.
The third
optical thing about diamond is that it has strong dispersing power. In other
words, as light passes through this precious stone, the white lights are
dispersed into its seven distinct colours forming an excellent spectrum at the
other side. Because of this, the observer tends to see a brilliant burning
fire-colour, very deep in its richness and very brilliant in its display of
glorious beauty. Seven colours of white light speak of a perfect knowledge of
the Lord; this is the perfect light from the Father of lights. We here come
across a priest of the Lord who, when he receives light from the Father of
lights, has a perfect knowledge of God’s mind. He is easily able to know,
through the Holy Spirit, the plans and purposes of God in all situations. He is
said to be wise. He can say like Lester Sumrall that in 60-years of walking
with God that he has not missed it once. The prismatic diamond that is Christ
is the one, in us, with us and has been well worked into us, that is capable of
this optical dispersion through which the world is supposed to see God. The
world has not begun to see us this way today because the prismatic
diamond-Jesus is still far from being formed in us. But when He is, the world
cannot but see the glory and Him in us at
that day. When is the day? The day is today and this tells us that the
pressing into this Divine nature is now.
The Metastable Diamond and Its High Melting Point
Diamond
is Naphthali. The hardest substance known is diamond? The molecular bonding of diamond is covalent
in nature – that is, between one atom and the other is a double bond; it is
single in most other substances. Diamond is formed in the core of the earth
under unimaginable degrees of pressure. A typical piece of diamond is said to be
16.5 Pa. One Pa(sca) of pressure is equivalent to about pilling 200 bags of
cement on one another on an area of a square metre. That is so much pressure.
Now, 16.5 Pa(sca) will be equal to 33 million bags of cements piled on
one another on a square metre of an area. This substance is therefore said to be
metastable; It can hardly be broken at
all. No wonder, in a nuclear blitz, it may hardly be affected as it has a
melting point of about 3000 degree Centigrade. In the launching of atomic
bomb almost 70-years ago, stones, rocks and iron did not only melt but flowed
and ran like rivers. Over a hundred thousand of human beings literaly
vapourised. Diamond could hardly ever have this report. The great pressure that
goes into the processing of its internal molecular bonding makes it practically
impossible to separate them by ordinary forces; it needs extraordinary force to
pull the molecules apart.
Diamond
is Naphthali. It is known for many characteristics, but one distinct part of it
is that it can take a lot of pressure and not break. This is the quality of the
kingly priest. Nothing could break the Lord Jesus though pressure upon pressure
mounted on Him; the wholesomeness of His spirit, soul and body held firm. The
bible says that in Him all things cohere or hold together and He displayed this
quality in the face of temptations, trials, persecutions, dehumanisation and
death. In each case the diamond-gem character of the Lord shone most
brilliantly.
The diamond
character speaks of the one who shines, who comes on more brilliantly and
gloriously as he is subjected to pressure, higher pressure and more pressure of
various degrees and quantities. This is one who glows and glories in his
infirmities. Infirmities here mean some afflictions - pressure - which come from Satan and which we have prayed
to God to be removed and it is like God has not done it or is probably not
going to do it for us. And he said unto
me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly then will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then I am
strong.2Corinthians 12: 9. Diamond
denotes grace, that enabling power or ability of God that sustains us in sufferings for Jesus’s
sake: reproaches, persecutions and distresses. Diamond is grace and means
ability not to bulk or misshapen under any pressure. Many saints in all ages
have known this quality in abundance. By this quality, the gospel has overtaken
the earth and has conquered.
The Diamond – wrestlings and hard nature and their effects
Naphthali
is diamond. Naphthali means wrestling. In Rachel’s statement, she said, With God’s wrestlings have I … the word
is plural, wrestlings; it was not one time wrestling, but many – and
protracted. She added, ‘…and I have
prevailed.’ This character is one that prevails in wrestlings. One day, on the way back from Laban, Jacob was swinging
in the valley of the shadow of death. Then he caught himself wrestling with an
angel until he prevailed. The angel said unto him, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince
hast thou power with God and with man, and hast prevailed. The pressure of
wrestlings is endless. For we wrestle
not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against
spiritual wickednesss in high places, against the rulers of darkness of this
world.
Naphthali-diamond character speaks of that hard quality that can affect
all others in no little ways. Diamond can be used to mark, to scratch, to cut
and punch holes (in) and to etch characters (on) other metals. It speaks of
that hardness attained through pressures that can make the person’s testimony
of the Lord Jesus have deep effect on others; such can cut and circumcise
another by his mere presence; it is called inducting Christ into another. It is
not about ministration in word – though that has its place in divine
arrangement – or of pastoring or of the operations of the Ascended Gifts of
Christ. It is that quality of life ingrained in a person who is living for
Christ Jesus. By the life-style of this individual, Christ is revealed and He comes
alive in another. If any one comes in contact with this character or this
character comes in contact with somebody, an eternal value is deeply etched in
the ensuing contact from the diamond-character person to the other one. Even when
the diamond-gem character is no more around, the divine influence remains and
pervades the recipient. It is diamond when somebody is able to testify of you
that he comes to know God in a special way because he has met with you. Diamond
leaves marks on other substances; it whets other metals.
Some Hard and Wrestling Faith-diamonds:
Their Exploits
Diamond
character! We would not have known God’s hidden plan to save the whole world if
there had not been a diamond-gem character like Apostle Paul. In our
contemporary world, we would not have had the influences and impacts of the
faith movement etched into our beings if there had been no diamond-gem
characters like E.W Kenyon, Kenneth Hagin, Copeland and many more. These hard
material-men actually turned around and blazed the Faith Economy through
persecutions and criticisms. And because they held firm, being the better for
it, the Body of Christ gained insight to the dynamics of faith. Diamond-gem is
not talking about forceful characters or personalities; it speaks of one who,
having had dealings of God in him, has become like Christ and, though he only
goes about his normal work, people cannot but turn around and take a look at
him again. It is not the external beauty that attracts others to him but the
inner beauty of God radiating from within and around him. You cannot come
across the diamond character and not take a stand: his presence may give you a
lift to life; his presence may cause you to hate him as it is an irritant to
your life unto death. Says Apostle Paul, Now
thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh
manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place (2 Corinthians 2: 14). Diamond character
cuts easily through any life.
Diamond is
Naphthali and is wrestling. He is always wrestling; his food is wrestling. He
engages in this with the wrestlings of God. Rachel was keenly aware that it
“was this or death.” It is a matter of resurrection. With the wrestlings of God have I wrestled… This character is
called the wrestlings of God. It applies to the individuals and the corporate Body
of Christ who have taken on the empirical knowledge of the resurrection of the
Christ. This will be clear presently. It is a quality of grace given to, for
example, Apostle Paul who said, Let no
man trouble me; for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Of
course, in many wrestlings, there will always be wounds and scars and
cicatrices to show for these engagements for the King.
There is a
brilliant connection of this diamond quality with resurrection as hinted in the
last paragraph. Paul points out that his main strife in life is about the
resurrection. If, he writes in 1
Corintians 15, verse 32, after the
manner of man I have fought with beasts at Ephesus what advantageth me , if the
dead rise not? The man fought with beasts – spirit beasts – by the
wrestlings of God or put in another way, he used the wrestlings of God. We are amazed today how a single man
called Paul could take on the whole world and not died. It is by the reason of
grace that he was able to bear it all, the pressure; and this is being worked
to us too: There hath no temptation
taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful who will not suffer
you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the same temptation
also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians
10: 13). Here is a glimpse into what the Apostle writes: …in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in
stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings… This
is diamond.
“Epaphras,” writes the apostle to the
Colosians, “who is one of you, a servant
of Christ saluteth you… always labouring fervently for you in prayers..”
The word fervently is from the Greek word agoniso,
the derivative of the English word, agonise.
It means to wrestle or to strive. This is diamond; the wrestlings of God. It is done in the place of prayers. It is
contention with some strange forces in the heavenly trying to cheat us out of
our born-again birthrights. For that heavenly space has been bought for us by
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus and we have been raised together with Him
in heavenly places. We have been lifted far above principalities, above powers
above dominion, above authority and above every name that is named not only in
this age but also in the age to come.
The
kingly priests have been able to look away from earthly values and wrestle with
the wrestlings of God for the space Christ has provided for us. These
pretenders to the heavenly must be pulled down, their kingdom pillaged. This is
diamond. It speaks of people that are conscious that they are occupying for
their Lord until he returns. Resurrection raises the issue of wrestlings with
the wrestlings of God out of the pedestal engagement to the heavenlies; it is
more than asking God to provide for our needs and making us people of substance
and fame. It is about being concerned with the heart of the Father; it is about
standing for the cause of the Lord.
Christ
dwells in us and in Him we overcome by faith for this is the faith that
overcomes the world and all its structures, even our faith.
Christ is
in us and because of this when we have done all of putting on the whole armour
of God, we will stand; we stand therefore knowing that we wrestle not against
flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against dominion,
against authority and every name that is named now and in the age to come.
Christ is
in us and He is the prismatic diamond through which the world can see Divine
character and nature; He is the perfect reflector that suffers no distortion of
image and we are the perfect reflection of His glory.
Christ is
in us is the hope of glory, the hope of the attainment of perfect beauty that
is God.
Lord, we
pray that You will have your way, make us go through such learning experiences
that will advance us all the way in the righteousness that we are in Christ
unto holiness onto God; bring us into to the perfect measure of Manhood, who is
the Lord Jesus Christ. We having the same spirit of faith according as it is
written, we believe and therefore speak. We believe and therefore speak that we
will attain sonship; we will get to priesthood. It is the Spirit that does this
in us and we pray that we will be yielded to Him in all things and in all His
dealings with us. Thank you our Lord.
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